Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Resin -- Handcancel Guest Post

Good morning, Sunshines! Happy Valentine's Day! Today I have a guest post for you to check out. Sure, you can consider it your present since I didn't get you anything else. Anyway, today's guest is a musician and music producer from New York City. He goes by the stage name Handcancel and has a website with the same name. Go check out his "diverse style of beatmaking and trippy live performances". And of course his review of Sixpoint's Resin here...

Sixpoint Resin

Northeast U.S. craft beer lovers were thrilled the day Sixpoint's silver tall cans hit shelves last year. With their Righteous Ale, Crisp, Bengali Tiger and draft favorite Sweet Action, especially Brooklyners had four less excuses to drink inferior out-of-state cans. The four core styles spanned the taste spectrum nicely. The Bengali Tiger IPA is certainly a neat offering for lovers of hoppy styles, but remains rather polite compared to some of the over-the-top hop-bombs being offered by today's American crafters.
Now comes Resin- Sixpoint's nuclear entrance into the hop-wars. Exquisitely packaged in a 12 oz. grass-green thin can, Sixpoint's latest offering hoppily lives up to its apt name, and at 9.1% ABV with 103 International Bitterness Units, provides hop-fiends (like me) occasion to chronically grin after sampling a few cans.

There's nothing subtle about this ale. I wouldn't give one to anyone unless they first verbally demonstrated their love for bitter hoppy goodness. It's rewarding to introduce craftys to friends who are hooked on macros, but Resin will not be that gateway- nor does it need to be (try the Crisp for that). It is unapologetically earthly and bold- pouring one into a glass reveals essence of a gooey, oily surface, with little in the way of head- common for this extreme style. What it lacks in foam, it leaves on the glass as an attractive, unctuous lacing. Taste-wise, Resin explodes wonderfully on the palate provided you are readily anticipating the style with open taste buds. The big body of this drink makes it the perfect compliment to your favorite food or snack. If no one's looking you might even want to scrape the empty glass with your bread stick.

The last time I had a bottle-break/spill in my studio- I told myself "cans over bottles" from now on. I became a huge fan of craft cans starting with the wonderful Oskar Blues lineup. I buy into the environmental benefits, and personally love to crush a can when I'm done.

Sixpoint gets extra cool points for their packaging- the 4 cans come in a sealed box, preventing gross dust flecks from invading the rim when sitting around in a truck or dingy Manhattan cooler. I like to be able to bring cans to a social occasion without having to run them under a faucet or clean the mouth with the bottom of my shirt.

Bottom-line: This well-packaged ale delivers to its adventurous base without having a corny name.